Traffic Impact Statement for the Proposed Development of a Leisure and Cultural Village on Farm Moila 412-Jo, Dinokana Village, North West Province
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Traffic Impact Statement for the proposed development of a leisure and cultural village on Farm Moila 412-Jo, Dinokana Village, North West Province Compiled by: Surina Laurie (CSIR) Tel: 021 888 2561 Date: 19 December 2017 Contents TRAFFIC IMPACT STATEMENT 2 1. INTRODUCTION 2 2. APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY 2 3. AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT 3 4. IDENTIFICATION OF IMPACTS 9 5. ASSESSMENT OF IMPACTS AND IDENTIFICATION OF MANAGEMENT ACTIONS 9 6. TRAFFIC IMPACT STATEMENT 14 TRAFFIC IMPACT STATEMENT pg 1 TRAFFIC IMPACT STATEMENT 1. INTRODUCTION Makadima Leisure and Cultural Village is a project proposed by Makadima Leisure and Cultural Village 101 (Pty) Ltd that will be based in Dinokana Village, outside of Zeerust, in Ngaka Modiri District, North West Province. The Makadima Leisure and Cultural Village aims to showcase the culture of different tribes found in the North West Province and is proposed on the Moiloa Farm 412-JO. The farm portion is 85 hectares in extent. The project aims to employ 20 permanent and 50 temporary staff, who will be from the surrounding Dinokana Village. During the Public Participation Process undertaken at the commencement of this project, the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) requested that due to the proximity of the proposed development to the N4, a traffic impact study/report should be submitted for consideration. This Traffic Impact Statement (TIS) has been compiled by the CSIR in support of this request. 1.1 Terms of Reference The key issues associated with the construction and operational phases of the project that will be assessed as part of the traffic assessment are: . Increase in traffic generation throughout the lifetime of the project; . Decrease in air quality; and . Increase in road maintenance required. 1.2 Assumptions The assessment has been based on the traffic information available at this stage of the project. 2. APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY 2.1 Objectives . Determine the current traffic conditions in sufficient detail so that there is a baseline against which impacts can be identified and measured; . Identify potential impacts and cumulative impacts that may occur during the construction and operational phases of development; . Determine mitigation and/or management measures which could be implemented to as far as possible reduce the effect of negative impacts and enhance the effect of positive impacts; and . Incorporate and address all issues and concerns raised by Interested and Affected Parties (I&APs) and the public (if applicable). 2.2 Methodology The key steps followed in this assessment are: TRAFFIC IMPACT STATEMENT pg 2 . Review of available desktop information, including the SANRAL National traffic count information, google earth images; and . Incorporating the project information received with the desktop information obtained and the determination of appropriate mitigation measures. 3. AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT The location of the project, the main road and the main access road are shown in Figure 1. The proposed project site can be accessed via an existing access road that intersects with a T- intersection with the N4 at (25°26'36.05"S; 25°51'17.58"E). The existing road is ± 12 m wide and has two lanes. The National Road 4 (N4) is routed from Skilpadshek on the Botswana border, past Rustenburg, Pretoria, Witbank and Nelspruit to Kompatiepoort at the border of Mosambique1. This section of the N4 comprises of two lanes, one lane routes to Zeerust and the opposite lane to the Skilpadshek border. Two traffic counts, available from 2016 SANRAL data show that at point 1651, “Bakwena Dinokana”, and point 1641, “Bakwena Radikhudu”, that the Average Daily Traffic (ADT) is 3989 and 1000, and the Annual Average Daily Truck Traffic (ADTT) is 524 and 388, respectively. These points are also shown in Figure 1. A photo plate is included (Photo 1-4) to show the intersection of the N4 with the existing access road and the current condition of the roads. 1 Falkner, John (May 2012). South African Numbered Route Description and Destination Analysis (Report). National Department of Transport. pp. 16–17 TRAFFIC IMPACT STATEMENT pg 3 Figure 1. Project locality and existing roads and traffic information available for the site. TRAFFIC IMPACT STATEMENT pg 4 Photo 1: Entrance of the site taken from the existing access road Photo 2: Photo showing the typical condition of the existing access road TRAFFIC IMPACT STATEMENT pg 5 Photo 3: T-intersection of the access road and the N4, taken in an northern direction Photo 4: Intersection between the N4 and the access road, taken in a southern direction TRAFFIC IMPACT STATEMENT pg 6 Photo 14. 5: Photo of the turn-off on the N4 in the direction of Zeerust Photo 14. 6: Photo of the turn-off on the N4 taken in the direction of the Skilpadshek border TRAFFIC IMPACT STATEMENT pg 7 3.1 Transport Information Materials and equipment transported to the site comprise of: . Building materials (concrete aggregates, cement and gravel); and . Construction equipment such as piling rigs and cranes. The general current limitations on road freight transport are: . Axle load limitation of 7,7 ton front axle, 9 t on single rear axles; . Axle unit limitations are 18 t for dual axle unit and 24 t for 3 axle unit; . Gross vehicle mass of 56 t. This means a typical payload of about 30 t; . Maximum vehicle length of 22 m for interlink, 18,5 m for horse and trailer and 13,5 m for a single unit; . Width limit of 2,6 m; and . Height limit 4,3m. Abnormal permits are required for vehicles exceeding these limits. It is however not anticipated that abnormal vehicles would be required for this development. 3.2 Traffic generation The traffic generation estimates detailed below have been provided by the Applicant. During all phases (construction and operation) of the project, traffic will be generated. The highest traffic volumes will be created during the construction phase. This includes activities associated with: . Site preparation and transporting the construction materials, and associated infrastructure to the site; and . Transportation of employees to and from the site on a daily basis. Construction Phase: During the construction phase, the following is anticipated: The construction period take 5 to 7 months, during this period, it is anticipated that the following will come to site on a daily basis: o 10 tipper trucks; o 2 front end loaders; o 2 excavators; o 2 graders; and o 2 normal vehicles. Based on the above, it is estimated that the number of vehicles trips during the construction phase would be between 2 070 and 2 898. These trips would be made over an estimated period of 5 to 7 months. In the worst case, the number of heavy vehicle trips per day for each facility would be in the order of 12 trips. TRAFFIC IMPACT STATEMENT pg 8 Operational Phase: During the operational phase, the following is anticipated: Normal daily operations: minimum of 10 to a maximum of 20 normal vehicles; and Special events: minimum of 100 to maximum of 150 normal vehicles. Decommissioning Phase: At this stage, it is not anticipated that the proposed project will cease to be utilised and all infrastructure removed from site therefore, this phase was not considered as part of the TIS. 4. IDENTIFICATION OF IMPACTS The traffic impacts that will be generated by the proposed facility are detailed below. The impacts will largely occur during the construction phase of the project, since this is when the highest amount of traffic will be generated by the proposed facility (refer to Section 3). The impacts identified and further assessed are: 1. Increase in traffic generation. 2. Accidents with pedestrians, animals and other drivers on the surrounding tarred roads. 3. Impact on air quality due to dust generation, noise and release of air pollutants from vehicles and construction equipment. 5. ASSESSMENT OF IMPACTS AND IDENTIFICATION OF MANAGEMENT ACTIONS This section assesses the significance of the impacts identified in Section 4. Appropriate mitigation and management measures to reduce the significance of the negative impacts and promote the positive impacts have been included in the draft EMPr. 5.1 Increase traffic generation As discussed in Section 4 of this report, conventional trucks and conventional heavy vehicles transporting loads will need to come to site to deliver the infrastructure required for the development. At worst, during the construction phase, 12 vehicles would need to come to site daily. The impact of this on the general traffic would be negligible as the additional peak hour traffic would be at most 2 trips. Significance of impacts without mitigation Although the construction phase would have the greatest impact on traffic generated by the proposed development, the increase in traffic will only result in an addition of 2 trips during peak hour traffic (worst case scenario). Based on the traffic counts discussed in Section 3 of this Chapter, the ADT for this area is between 3989 and 1000 (depending on the direction of the traffic) vehicles. The R27 is designed for 1000 units per day and therefore, the additional traffic generated during the construction phase will have a low negative impact. TRAFFIC IMPACT STATEMENT pg 9 The operational phase will have a lower traffic generation since only the personnel permanently employed on site and tourists will come daily to site daily. It is not expected that this would exceed 20 rips per day. Although, during special events this amount may increase to up to 150 vehicles. This negative impact would be very low. Proposed mitigation Even though the traffic generated would not be significant, the following requirements should still be met by the developer during the construction and decommissioning phases: . Should abnormal loads have to be transported by road to the site, a permit needs to be obtained.